wrangle

I have a feeling that keeping an internet connection on the little toysrus computer may be challenging in some places. The hotel room is fairly spartan with its board for a bed and I've only really got a space to hang jeans and maybe park some cowboy boots.

The culture of Calgary is a blend of cosmopolitan urban with the slick city skyscrapers of the oil crowd and the more rough and ready charms of the folk who wrangle cattle for a living. Throw in the Asian influence from the settlers who moved to Calgary from the Pacific Rim in the late 1800s and there is quite a mixing pot.

Similar contrasts between the airconditioned security patrolled comfortable public areas facilitating traversal of the city by glass corridors compared with people panhandling on the streets for a few dollars.

tied up

The tram ride to the Calgary Stampede was not entirely successful. Having found a tram station, it was necessary to buy a ticket for circa three Canadian dollars. I only had a ten dollar bill and no change. The machines were coin only. I asked a few people if they could swap my bill for some coins, but everyone said "No". So I baorded the tram anyway, holding the money ready to exoplain my English plight.

Next thing I know, the tram is heading across the river away from the Stampede gound. The early stops were about every 300 metres, but after it decided to cross the river, the next stop was about 3 kilometers. Nothing for it. Change trams and go back. The ares of the tram station was fairly isolated too, on shops, taxis or people. I waited and caught a tram back, with it stopping at different alternate stations on the retrun. Eventually I got off, close to where I'd started and decided to try the trip again. Except the train announcer then explained there was an emergency and all the trams to the Stampede Ground were halted. Nothing for it but to find a taxi.

Later, I arrived at the Stampede ground, which is huge and has a funfair and many sidehows in addition to what turned out to be the finals of the varuious events. These included tieing a steer, wrestling a steer, bucking bronco and chuck wagon races. I got to kow what a rope-off and a jump-off are as I watched the various events.

Then sleep.

the land of the ice and snow

Sunday sipping Mai Tai before the flight to Alberta, passing over Iceland and Baffin Bay. Arriving on time and finding the way downtown, knowing it was the last night of the big rodeo called Calgary Stampede.

Having settled into the hotel, what else to do but make the way by tram across to the show?

Next stop, Canada

Heading to the airport at 11:00 this morning to hop on the flight to Calgary, for some new adventures in Canada.

I've no idea whether I'll be able to post and blog entries at all whilst travelling about and have only taken the rather tiny backpack friendly Eee PC as sole form of computing power. With an SLR, a small camcorder and a book to read the space is somewhat at a premium.

And rashbre central has gone 'Western' for a few days, in celebration.

iPhone 2

I've just been messing about with the iPhone update. Quite a few of the social network software facilities now run from the aps menu on the phone and there's also some clever ways to do things like remote control of iTunes, which is now built into the new iTunes 7. I've added twitterific, newsgator and a few other bits and pieces from the aps menu. All free software uploads. Not bad for a free upgrade.

Oh and I couldn't resist Band which is a virtual band and could keep me amused on the plane tomorrow.

I must remember its a telephone.

Technorati Tags: rashbre, iPhone, iGnore, apple, mac, iTunes7

flutter

"Be Lucky", someone said to me just before I departed for Ascot to watch a few horse races. "Buy the Sun newspaper", someone else said. So suitably prepared with a quarter page torn from the paper (plenty of Shock Horror stories to read sometime else) and the luckiness that had been instructed upon me, I thought I simply couldn't lose.

And then, on the way to the race course there was The Sign. A full aerial display by the Red Arrows, right in the sky in front of me.

At one point, one of the pilots flew his plane along the path of the M3 towards me.

So by the time I reached Ascot, I thought I couldn't possibly lose and plumped a whole £10 on a horse in the first race.

Thats when something went wrong.

It lost.

It wasn't supposed to.

I thought about leaving right then, but we still had more courses of lunch to eat. Okay, one more try, I thought, and then I'll stop or else I'll become addicted to gambling and go into a hopeless downward penniless spiral ending barefooted and desperate on the street outside the racetrack selling lucky horseshoes.

Second race. I won. Twenty-four pounds payout. I was now a whole £4 ahead.

OK. One more go. Ten quid again. To win (that was the only gambling phrase I knew).

Race Three. I won again. This time the tenner returned £55. I was now £49 ahead and still drinking the complementary lemonade. One more time...£10...Lost.

That was enough. I was still thirty-nine quid ahead and still possessed the willpower to walk away.

And a smile.

day at races and night at piano

Today has a sort of ultimate compression to it. An early work start before a trip to the races at Ascot, to include some kind of fancy lunch and presumably some betting. I must get a copy of The Sun newspaper so that I know the odds. I seem to recollect that the jockeys who arrive by helicopter usually win their races.

Then on to a musical evening with Elton John and perhaps his red piano. The venue is fairly close to Ascot, which is a fortunate co-incidence because the two events were planned in a most uncoordinated way.

When I eventually get back home I will need to start packing for the weekend's flight to Canada.

big moth near Farnborough

Earlier I was putting some minor groceries into the back of the car when I spotted this making a large amount of noise. I've since seen some other small planes and a few helicopters and I believe its because everyone is practicing for Farnborough Air Show.

That would also explain this afternoon's little procession of biplanes and (Tri?)planes and a seriously aggressive looking jet fighter that I saw flying around in circles.

shock british summer rain!

How much sadness can there be in the London sky? The last three days delivered thunder and those kind of downpours that sting the skin.

I've walked along roads transformed into miniature rivers. Yesterday, from the car to indoors, I morphed from dry into drenched.

Right now the heartbroken sky is crying again.


Update: Still raining...

not exactly heaven 17, but in the same wheels

No time for breakfast shows, watching tv and analysing the weather.
Little time to plan the day, except one big thing before Friday.
Work all day and work all night - to make time for play.
Should I stay cool and not get excited wondering?
No chance.
Vocation before vacation?
Defining a new future just before the old story is up.

toy computer

I'll be heading to Calgary in a few days before starting a general wander around the Western half of Canada. Space will be somewhat at a premium and I've decided that as this is a fun trip, I'll jettison the PC. My MacBook Pro is a 17 in system and I've decided on this occasion to leave it behind. So what computer to carry for minor tasks that is also back-pack friendly?

There was nothing for it but to pay a visit to Toys R Us.

They currently stock a teensy thing called the Eee PC which costs around the same as two tanks of fuel for my car and runs a choice of Linux or Windows XP. I think my local store was trying to sell them off before the next model arrives.

Its got 1024x600 screen res, Wifi b/g, a 1.3Mp video camera, VGA out, 100Mb ethernet and a flash disk. There's a slot on the side to add a further flash disk. I found one and clicked it in and it worked straight away. Then I plugged in a 160GB USB powered hard drive which also worked straight away.

Its about the same size as a small hardback or large paperback book, has a moderate battery life and is surprisingly fast for a 1.2MHz 1Gb memory machine. Its available in Black, White and -er- Pink. The white does it for me. I really want it for word processing, email, backup of photos and maybe a bit of browser/blogging. It will be interesting to see how it fares.

Its no secret that I'm something of a Mac enthusiast, and I think there's a lesson here somewhere on packaging for small portable form factors. I have this set up (out of the box) to run Windows XP + MS Works and the Sun StarOffice - not exactly radical programs, but they get the job done. I've left Microsoft Moviemaker on it too, but I'm not holding my breath.

My mad comparison is with the Macbook Air. The Air is much bigger, sleeker, generally classier but would cost at least 6-7 times as much. I would be saddened if I dropped one. I realize I could use the Macbook to edit HD video as well, but then I'd want to use a big Macbook in any case. So at the 'horse for courses' level this tiny, plasticky looking machine will have to be my new best computer friend for a while.

spa

Scheduling chill-out time seems a little perverse, so this weekend's jaunt to the spa, with co-ordinated timetables could have been a mistake.

Suffice to say that everyone returned suitably mellow and the main talk was of recovering from the relaxations of the candles, multiple saunas and aboriginal massage.

A good sign as we prepare ourselves for next week's hectic activities and the countdown before some time in Canada.